Bust form



J. B. PITCHER May 2, 1939.

BUST FORM Filed Oct.A l1, 1957 120e i.. W

' l UNITEDFSTAT `55 Thebodymay nenas Moya.

vallmusic aus'rronu .im nel-trium, schuw, nnbh. application october-1 1. 1w, serial No. lessor..` f

.somma (ora-261),.

'Ihis invention. relates tol bust pads or forms such as are customarily wornunder a brassire or gowns Y The purpose of my invention is to simplify and improve the design and construction of pads or forms of this character and to reduce the cost of manufacture. Since goods of this kind are produced and sold in a highly competitive market a relatively small saving in unit cost becomes .a

19 matter of considerable importance to the manufacturer.

Heretofore bust forms have usually been given theirgcontour by stuffing or lining the interior apex portion of a flexible body or shell with pad-k bled and sewed or pasted or otherwise secured together. These numerous operations required considerable hand work, added to the weight, and

undesirably increased thev heating effect.

Such disadvantages of earlier constructions are overcome by -iny present improvement. In design andconstructlon it has the-desirable qualities of flexibilityfirmness, and ability to retain its shape under all circumstances of wear.v If it ls accidentally distorted it' will spring back into its ,normal condition. This result is attained without employing any stuffing or padding'devices.

With the foregoing and certain other objects in view, I have produced the device illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 shows a front view of a bust form embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a .detail view of a piece of material formed with a dart to assist in producing the desired contour for the finished article,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view'of two flexible bows comprising ayieldable lfoundationV for the bust pad body, and 1 Fig. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic sectional 'detail taken on line-E of Fig. 2, showing a preferred modeof fastening the flexible bows to the body of the pad.

In the ydrawing-numeral i designates the pad body, which vpreferably consists of .a layer of` 'felted fabric, such as dowmor felted cotton y or wool'material.

In some-instances each such` be round, oval, or of egg-shaped.

form and is preferably shaped by vthe' usual meth- Aod of cutting into the edge of a ilatpiece of the size and contour of the finished form.

The fabric of the body l is of substantially uniform thickness as distinguished from the centrally built up and internally padded structures heretofore used.

To maintain its contourwhile in service without employing such internal padding, the soft resilient shell-like body Ifis supported` internally by two or more reinforcing arched members or bows 5, 6 made of strips of any suitable flexible or resilient material such as steel or featherbone; for example, a narrow strip of Celluloid may be concealed within strips of tape orfabric 8 which are stitched, as at 9, to the inner face ofme'mber il. The tapes are stitched across their ends to keep the ends of vthe bows in place. The bows are sprung into shape as indicated in Fig; 4.

For purposes of illustration I have shown two bowed resilient .members 5, 6, although in some cases a greater number are preferably used. A form having four such members 'has been found satisfactory, the resilient bow elements being narrow strips of thin Celluloid.` The two or more plied to the inner face of the body, as will be described later.4 v

The arched members 5,16 are very light and flexible and are bowed sufilciently to'hold the ciently resilient to tendvtotstraighten'if the form is accidentally dented or depressed. In fact, a

bust form madev asl described is so flexible and *resilient thatv it can be folded almost double and.

covering I normally in shape. They-'are suiil,

into its correct shape. As'will be seen in Fig. 1, .55

` in the completed article and the desirable physical characteristics above enumerated become its permanent features.

To suitably finish the' article, the inside is covered with soft satin I2 and the outside with 'chiffon or other; sheer material IL Thesecoverfings may be varied asoccasion may,A require, or more suitable fabric become available. 'Ihe edges of the coverings are stitched together at I4.

The completed bust form is extraordinarily light and flexible, conforms in a natural way 'to the wearers movements, yet has the requisite amount of firmness to present an entirely normal appearance under all conditions of use. Itis cool and comfortable to the wearer, and has none of the disadvantages of forms with built-up or padded or stuifed interiors heretofore deemed necessary.

It 1s 1n veffect a nexib1e, resiuent, thm, anaextremely light shell of fabric'sustained by easily yieldable resilient arched members or 'bows crossing at the apex andextending divergently outward toward the margin. The areas of the body intermediate the divergingend portions 1 of the bows are otherwise unsupported, being capable of being sprung independently of each other so as to give to the body the required characteristics of moderate firmness without rigidity.

A convenient mode of procedure in manufacturing is to first make a blank of crinoiine of the right shape; form a tuck (not shown) at the end of each diameter or wherever desired to give the proper ovate shape, stitching the tuck down; then place each of the bowed members 5, 6 which are in their tape coverings 8, in position on the inner face of the crinoiine lining II and overlapping the tucks, and stitch their marginal edges 9 to the lining. Make the body I either by forming darts in its edges and then stitching the margins together, or by shaping the body from a piece of felted fabric which is molded or pressed into shape. Then place the crinoiine lining II and its attached bows 5, 6 inside the shaped body I and stitch it in place atthe apex and at a few both sides of said seam.

places around its peripheral ledge".` cover the outer surface of the body with chiffon I3 and the inner surface with satin I2 and stitch the edges of these inner and outer coverings together ground the marginal edge of the completed bust orm.

The device can be manufactured mostly with an ordinary sewing machine, thereby eliminating much of the hand labor heretofore required to produce articles of this character.

In the foregoing description isset forth the structure and mode of my invention `in its preferred form; Various modicationsmay, however, be made in the structure without departing Y from the essential idea of the invention as set forth in certain of the claims. For example, the bowed resilient members 5 and 6 have been illustrated and,` described as being applied to the inner concave surface of the body I, and this is the arrangement which I prefer to use in praetice. The bows, however, may be applied to the exterior convex surface. The appearance may not then beas ornate as in the preferred arrangement, but the serviceability and the flexible characteristics of the article will be practically the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bust form comprising a shell of soft ilexible felted fabric the margin of which is formed with darts, the edges of each slit being stitched together and presenting a seam, a supporting frame constituting a'plurality of crossed resilient supporting members bowed and secured to the inner face of said shell beneath the respective seams, each resilient member being encased in a sheath of fabric stitched tothe inner face of the shell along both sides of said seam, and a fabric cover for the outer slide of the said shell.

2. A bust form comprising a shell of sott nexible felted fabric the margin of which is formed with darts, the edges of each slit being stitched together and presenting a seam, a. supporting frame constituting a plurality of crossed resillent supporting members bowed and secured to a face of said shell overlying the respective seams. each resilient member being encased in a sheath of fabric stitched to the face of the shell along JAMES BERT PITCHER.. 

